Boullier: A McLaren-Honda on track in Abu Dhabi?
Eric Boullier mentioned the possibility of seeing the McLaren team test the 1.6L V6 Turbo Honda engine as early as this year, during private tests scheduled in Abu Dhabi at the end of November.
McLaren will switch from a Mercedes engine to a Honda engine next season, and while Honda’s motorsport boss, Yasuhisa Arai, believed the 2015 McLaren-Honda would be ready for the first tests in Jerez, Eric Boullier hinted that it could happen even earlier, in just a few weeks according to the Frenchman.
« We are on schedule with our development plan. Our engine – or more precisely our power unit is ready for a full check, but without the chassis. There will still be time to put the chassis and the power unit together and then perform checks on a complete car. […] We will start track testing early next year – most likely in Jerez., » Arai told the official F1 site.
Eric Boullier, Woking team’s racing director, told Sky Sports that McLaren could test the Honda engine during the last tests of the season scheduled in Abu Dhabi, on November 25 and 26: « Yes. It’s not defined. What is certain is that we will undoubtedly be at Jerez with a McLaren-Honda car. But things remain open to make it run earlier if everything aligns in terms of schedule. We are not going to give a definitive answer now, because in reality we do not really know. It is very likely that it will be before Jerez. We will see. »
